The philosophy of Objectivism, founded by Ayn Rand, is intricately displayed by separate, individual branches of philosophy: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and politics. Please excuse me for merely copying down the outline in her books.

1. Metaphysics: "Reality, the external world, exists independent of man's consciousness, independent of any observer's knowledge, beliefs, feelings, desires or fears. This means that A is A, that facts are facts, that things are what they are--and that the task of man's consciousness is to perceive reality, not to create or invent it." Thus Objectivism rejects any belief in the supernatural--and any claim that individuals or groups create their own reality.

2. Epistemology: "Man's reason is fully competent to know the facts of reality. Reason, the conceptual faculty, is the faculty that identifies and integrates the material provided by man's senses. Reason is man's only means of acquiring knowledge." Thus Objectivism rejects mysticism (any acceptance of faith or feeling as a means of knowledge), and it rejects skepticism (the claim that certainty or knowledge is impossible).

3. Human Nature: Man is a rational being. Reason, as man's only means of knowledge, is his basic means of survival. But the exercise of reason depends on each individual's choice. "Man is a being of volitional consciousness." "That which you call your soul or spirit is your consciousness, and that which you call 'free will' is your mind's freedom to think or not, the only will you have, your only freedom. [This is] the choice that controls all the choices you make and determines your life and character." Thus Objectivism rejects any form of determinism, the belief that man is a victim of forces beyond his control (such as God, fate, upbringing, genes or economic conditions).

4. Ethics: "Reason is man's only proper judge of values and his only proper guide to action. The proper standard of ethics is: man's survival qua man--i.e., that which is required by man's nature for his survival as a rational being (not his momentary physical survival as a mindless brute). Rationality is man's basic virtue, and his three fundamentals are: reason, purpose, self-esteem. Man--every man--is an end in himself, not a means to the ends of others; he must live for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself; he must work for his rational self-interest, with the achievement of his own happiness as the highest moral purpose of his life." Thus Objectivism rejects any form of altruism--the claim that morality consists in living for others or for society.

5. Politics: "The basic social principle of the Objectivist ethics is that no man has the right to seek values from others by means of physical force--i.e., no man or group has the right to initiate the use of physical force against others. Men have the right to use force only in self-defense and only against those who initiate its use. Men must deal with one another as traders, giving value for value, by free, mutual consent to mutual benefit. The only social system that bars physical force from human relationships is laissez-faire capitalism. Capitalism is a system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which the only function of the government is to protect individual rights, i.e., to protect men from those who initiate the use of physical force." Thus Objectivism rejects any form of collectivism, such as fascism or socialism. It also rejects the current "mixed economy" notion that the government should regulate the economy and redistribute wealth.

6. Esthetics: "Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgments." The purpose of art is to concretize the artist's fundamental view of existence. Ayn Rand described her own approach to art as "Romantic Realism": "I am a Romantic in the sense that I present men as they ought to be. I am Realistic in the sense that I place them here and now and on this earth." The goal of Ayn Rand's novels is not didactic but artistic: the projection of an ideal man: "My purpose, first cause and prime mover is the portrayal of Howard Roark or John Galt or Hank Rearden or Francisco d'Anconia as an end in himself--not as a means to any further end."

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One good way of stretching your Objectivist understandings, is to answer people's general philosophy questions in a forum where you can take your time to research , if need be, and write a coherent statement. I prefer this over one on one, face to face, because I get so passionate when I'm speaking people think I'm aggressively arguing when I'm really just----passionate! Then it turns into a real argument.

So I regularly use Yahoo Answers http://answers.yahoo.com/ It makes me stretch my thinking abilities and come up with answers to questions that Ayn Rand never had to answer---or perhaps never sought to answer.

I'll tell you, kids these days can ask the dumbest questions. But some of them can think of the most extraordinarily difficult premises that require some deep thinking. I'm addicted to YA.

In that brief excerpt of "Ayn Rand and the World She Made" just read, I hate the fact that, even though I know that I'm gonna despise this author for those scattered little comments on Ayn Rand's arrogance and individualism, I was interested in what the author found in research. I just wish somebody else had done it.

I'll put my name down here, more as an admirer of objectivism than an objectivist myself, except perhaps in the wider sense in which you might say that Popper is an objectivist along with David Kelly and Ayn Rand.

I lived life by these rules, I didn't know it was considered objectivism until I read it here. This was probably the best summary of the philosophy I read so far. It conveyed the message so far. I own all of Rand's books, they are beyond amazing.

Still a student of Objectivism. From what I know, I cannot call myself an Objectivist until I have an intimate knowledge of it and be able to defend it in a debate. I insist otherwise of giving myself the epithet till I've proven I shouldn't :D

I have recently finished reading Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth books and I strongly believe that his books evoke strong objectivist's principles. I imagine Richard Rahl (the main character in the series) as Terry Goodkind's John Galt. :-)

I am glad to have found this niche in Atheist Nexus for objectivists, although it would have been much better if it were a community, or a much larger and active group. One added friend at a time then...yah!